Marks & Spencer ended the day 1p down at 283p, after the medical charity the Wellcome Trust emerged as the holder of a 2.5% stake.

Traders have speculated in recent days that a bidder could be stalking M&S and the Halley family - until recently the largest shareholder in the French supermarket giant Carrefour - was named as a potential suitor.

But now it seems that no bid is in the offing for the group, which lost a quarter of its market value in a single day after issuing a profit warning last month. The shares have remained stuck below £3 ever since.

Today's Bank of England decision to hold interest rates at 5% for the fourth successive month appeared to make no difference to the market.